Heretofore, the slide assembly of a given machine tool included a slide plate reciprocally mounted on suitable guides for reciprocal movement there along. The drive mechanism to effect the reciprocating movement of the slide plate along the guides generally consists of a piston and cylinder drive, actuated by a fluid medium, e.g. compressed air or hydraulic fluid. The arrangement was such that upon the actuation of the piston and cylinder drive, the slide plate associated therewith is reciprocated along its guides only a distance equal to the stroke of the associated piston's displacement within the cylinder. Thus the maximum reciprocal distance for such currently known machine tool slides is limited to the displacement distance of the piston within the cylinder. Such known machine tool slides were capable of achieving only a linear displacement of the slide relative to that of the piston displacement in a one-to-one ratio.